Bury St. Edmunds was the burial place of St. Edmund, a Saxon King of East Anglia, martyred in 869 by Viking invaders who had also martyred St. Fremund in 866. John Lydgate (probably from Lidgate, 10 miles from Bury), a monk of the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds and one of the most prolific writers of Middle English, translated this work from Latin into English to be presented to the 12-year-old King Henry VI, to commemorate his stay at Bury from Christmas 1433 to Easter 1434. It is likely that this manuscript was made at Bury under Lydgate's supervision for presentation to the king. The birth of St. Edmund is depicted in a 15th-century domestic interior, with a nursemaid keeping the infant warm before the fire, while his mother Queen Siware is being attended in her bed.